Resolution requirements for numerical modeling of neutrino quantum kinetics

TL;DR

This paper investigates how numerical resolution affects the accuracy of neutrino quantum kinetic simulations, revealing that low resolutions underestimate flavor instability growth and lead to incorrect asymptotic states, impacting astrophysical predictions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive resolution study using two independent schemes, clarifying resolution requirements for accurate neutrino quantum kinetic modeling.

Findings

Decreasing spatial resolution underestimates flavor instability growth.

Low resolution simulations produce incorrect asymptotic flavor states.

Guidelines for resolution requirements in neutrino transport modeling.

Abstract

Neutrino quantum kinetics is a rapidly evolving field in computational astrophysics, with a primary focus on collective neutrino oscillations in core-collapse supernovae and post-merger phases of binary neutron star mergers. In recent years, there has been considerable debate concerning resolution dependence in numerical simulations. In this paper, we conduct a comprehensive resolution study in both angular- and spatial directions by using two independent schemes of quantum kinetic neutrino transport: finite volume and pseudospectral methods. We complement our discussion by linear stability analysis including inhomogeneous modes. Our result suggests that decreasing spatial resolutions underestimates the growth of flavor instability, and then leads to wrong asymptotic states of flavor conversions, which potentially has a critical impact on astrophysical consequences. We further delve into numerical results of low resolution simulations, that reveals the underlying mechanism responsible for numerical artifacts caused by insufficient resolutions. This study settles the debate on requirements of resolutions and serves as a guideline for numerical modeling of quantum kinetic neutrino transport.